Study Charts Huge Surge in Federal Student Loans Since 1990

By Jeanne Ponessa

Federally guaranteed student loans taken out since 1990 have equaled the total amount borrowed through such loans in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s combined, a new report concludes.

The report, released by the Education Resources Institute, a private, nonprofit corporation that provides education loans that are not federally backed, projects that the current level of borrowing will continue to skyrocket, more than doubling by 2000.

"We now have major education debt, which we didn't have years ago, that extends over a very long period of time for students and the families," said Ted...